Talking about his resignation, Khanna wrote on his Facebook Page, "Over the last two months a lot of people and press first talked about me joining the Akali Dal and then in the past few weeks they have talked about my being absent from the election campaign in Punjab. I have officially not said anything."

"The truth is that yes I did consider the idea of joining the Akali Dal , not for any personal gain but for the fact that I could, through them, get a lot of work done in my Halka and also contribute to the development of Punjab", he said.

"Most importantly I would be able to contribute in the most positive way to help the youth of Punjab develop and progress. At the same time, I also thought about what I was doing with my own life. Was I doing justice to my family, was I giving them enough time and attention. Then there were my own businesses which required my attention. The teams working for me, also need my time and attention. In the end I had to take a very difficult decision about how I wanted to spend my life", he wrote.

"I am grateful for all the love and affection shown to me by my extended family in Dhuri and Sangrur. The countless number of blessings of all the people in all of the villages, is what has given me the strength to achieve and contribute to the development in my Halka. But, with a heavy heart I have to say that the time has come for me to step away from politics - earlier today I submitted my resignation to the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly and I hope that it will be accepted", he added.

"This has been a difficult period for me. On the one hand I wanted to explain my position, but all this was put on hold after Captain Sahib was announced as the Congress candidate from Amritsar, I could not get myself to make any move when Captain Sahib was busy in elections and I was not sure how this would reflect on him and his election effort. I have also had the privilege of communicating with the Congress Vice President - and explaining my personal situation to him", he added.

He also said that he will continue social work in Punjab through Umeed.